There is a question all underclassmen have had in their minds, even if it was only for a brief moment. That question is: IB or AP? What even are IB and AP classes? Even though both of them are used to get college credits, what is the difference? Well, the first thing you should know is that this is a very important decision to make before it is too late.

So what does IB stand for? It stands for the International Baccalaureate program. It was developed in Switzerland and is commonplace in international schools. Originally, the IB program was made to be a select set of classes, but most schools that have the IB let you take just a couple of the classes without receiving the IB diploma. Additionally, the IB program is the less common choice for schools because in order to have the IB program, the school needs to be able to offer enough classes for the full IB diploma, which is more costly.

The IB program strives to ensure a “well rounded” student through its diploma program which requires exposure to an Extended Essay, community, knowledge and service activities, as well as Theory of Knowledge (TOK). AP on the other hand, stands for Advanced Placement. It was developed in the United States of America, to enable students prepare for college without the solid schedule of classes. In other words, they could take as many AP classes as they wanted, depending on their school or self goals. It is the most popular option for students, rather than IB, because it is more flexible and depends on the student’s schedule.

Ms. Canobie, the IB coordinator explained that “the IB is a curriculum that incorporates multiple assessment, often varied in type.” The main goal of the IB program is to “develop writing and developing critical thinking skills,” which include an extended essay (basically a very long and formal research paper) and laboratory investigations.

On the contrary, the AP’s main goal is to teach students more specific content and test their knowledge in an exam. As stated in PrepScholar, the AP is “more multiple-choice and emphasis on meeting certain content goals.” Susan Canobie, the IB coordinator of ISB explains, that “the AP assessment is solely based on one assessment, given on one day.”

In some instances, colleges can get picky with the IB program. While the AP program offers one single level of classes, the IB program has two levels called standard-level and higher-level. In most cases, colleges will give credit for all AP classes and higher-level IB classes, but there is a slight chance that they will not accept all standard level IB classes.

The cost of the IB program is more than the cost of the AP program, as the IB program costs about $160 (฿5,514) per year and $110 (฿3790) per exam. The AP program only costs $92 (฿3170) per exam with no additional cost. The only exception is that sometimes the school will have financial aid, which means the cost could be lower, depending on the school.

Think of the IB program as a one size fits all kind of program, while the AP program is more tailored to the student. If you are studying in an international school, the IB program will probably be more recognised, since it was made to be that way. But the reality is that colleges do not consider one program being more “impressive” or “challenging” than the other. All schools teach IB or AP classes differently, so it all comes down to taking the most strenuous classes you can take at your school. Colleges will pay close attention to how hard you challenge yourself under the given circumstances of your school. So no need to worry about whether IB will give you more credits than AP, or vice versa. All you need to do is challenge yourself so you can reach your full potential, because you will get acknowledged for that.

Grace Yang